The invention relates to a method for changing the dimensions of an electronically stored image which is composed of individual objects that are arranged below or next to one another or that fully or partially overlap one another, in which the image is changed in at least one horizontal or vertical image dimension and at least some of the individual objects are changed in at least one horizontal or vertical object dimension and the change in the object dimension is sometimes not necessarily proportional to the change in the image dimension.
Methods for changing the dimensions of an electronically stored image of this type are known in general from the field of advertising. They are used to adapt the image to the various formats for example of a newspaper following the creation of a layout as a model for creating a print copy.
For instance, for example the column widths and lengths of various daily newspapers differ from one another, so that the same image cannot be used without modification. Furthermore, usually a whole series of advertisements is planned. In a magazine, for example, half a page may be booked as an advertisement feature. By contrast, in a national daily newspaper, a smaller and thus less expensive advertisement may be booked, for example in the format “third of a page, edgeways”. In a local newspaper, on the other hand, the whole page is booked, and in another newspaper an advertisement in the format “two-thirds of a page, edgeways”.
In the known methods, following creation of the image for the basic layout using commercially available DTP programs, the image is adapted to the various sizes. For this, the individual elements of the image are scaled and converted manually, and this not only leads to a great outlay on staff but also entails a less reproducible result. Furthermore, each advertisement must be released individually or else every conceivable format must be prepared prior to presentation of the project.